Friday, September 1, 2023

Walking with suffering (Elisabeth Elliiott / Mary C. McGinnity)

One does not surrender a life in an instant.
That which is lifelong can only be
surrendered in a lifetime.

--Elisabeth Elliott,
Shadow of the Almighty

   We are challenged to look at the realities of those who suffer and address them. No illusions. We are challenged then to look at our own suffering and the sufferings of others and address them – address them properly. We are asked to look deeper, see beneath illusions and act with love and care. 

    It is clear however, that this kind of power – the healing power of love, is not possible without God. Jesus knows that and teaches us that our path forward in grace is through suffering but through a suffering that is walked with in a friendship, a closeness with God. This is what it means to take up the cross. And Jesus is going to show them by doing it. 

--Mary C. McGinnity 

Image source: Veronica’s Gift to Jesus, detail from the sixth of the Stations of the Cross in the Kirche zu den Heiligen Engeln (Church of the Holy Angels), in Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg on the Lech River). Photo by Fr. Patrick Michaels, https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2159547224227460&set=pb.100005166090077.-2207520000.
Quotation source 1
Quotation source 2

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